The subject dischargeable hopper system is generally directed to an onboard storage or receptacle system for a vehicular apparatus which may be readily actuated to discharge its contents even during vehicular apparatus operation. More specifically, the dischargeable hopper system is one which may be reconfigured in situ responsive to user actuation so as to effect the autonomous discharge of its contents therefrom. That is, a storage compartment formed by the subject dischargeable hopper system may be quickly and conveniently emptied by a user without having to completely halt operation of the vehicular apparatus then remove or disassemble any components.
A storage container or receptacle is often employed with various types of vehicular equipment to provide onboard storage of certain articles, load materials, collected debris, and the like. Typical applications of such receptacles include leaf or grass catching receptacle assemblies for riding lawn mower or tractor type vehicular equipment. In such applications, the receptacle assembly typically includes a storage container in which articles or debris such as grass clippings and fallen leaves collected by the given equipment during operation is accumulated for appropriate later disposal. Periodically, as it fills to capacity, the container must be emptied before equipment operation can continue. This presents a number of obstacles in practice which significantly disrupt an operator""s use of the given vehicular equipmentxe2x80x94sometimes to the point of causing the operator to abandon use of the receptacle assembly altogether, in favor of simply expelling the solid debris collected or generated by the equipment indiscriminately upon the surrounding ground surfaces.
In the absence of automatically powered emptying means (which invariably prove to be for many prohibitively great both in complexity and cost), a user must manually empty the receptacle assembly""s container, either by physically removing and upending it, or by directly removing the collected load of debris itself (often by removing a filled container lining bag). Proper safety precautions demand that the user completely halt operation of the vehicular equipment and fully deboard it prior to carrying out such emptying procedure.
The disruptive effect this causes to the user""s efforts to complete the required work and the added physical exertion it requires of him or her are quite significant. This is especially so given that where a receptacle container is reduced in size to lessen the weight and volume of its load capacity (so as to minimize the physical exertion required to empty it), the frequency with which the container must be emptied is necessarily increased. Conversely, where the receptacle assembly""s container is increased in capacity to reduce the frequency with which it must be emptied, the container quickly becomes much more cumbersome and difficult to empty. Yet, prompt and regular emptying of the receptacle assembly""s container remains an absolute necessity, lest a clog form in the chuted path through which solid debris is expelled and directed from the vehicular equipment""s working deck to the receptacle assembly not only interrupting further equipment operation, but requiring the user to take the necessarily time consuming and inconvenient remedial measures.
In view of such considerations, known grass clipping/leaf catching assemblies often employ, for example, bag-type containers dimensioned approximately 12 inches in diameter and approximately 24xe2x80x9430 inches in length to yield an approximate 4xe2x80x946 cubic feet capacity. While container capacity is thus limited to that which may remain manageable for an adult individual of average size and build, it is such that rather frequent bagxe2x80x94emptying pauses are required to avoid clogging of the chuted path, particularly where the length of the grass to be mowed and/or the density of the leaves to be collected are anything other than extremely low.
There exists a need, therefore, for an onboard container or receptacle assembly for a vehicular apparatus which minimally disrupts the task being performed by a user via that vehicular apparatus, yet remains conveniently and quickly operable. There exists a need for such an assembly which affords sufficiently high load capacity to minimize the frequency and/or duration of disruptive pauses in vehicular apparatus operation, and which permits the user to discharge its contents without having to even deboard the vehicular apparatus.
Onboard storage or receptacle systems for various types of vehicular equipment are known in the art. The best prior art known to Applicant includes U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,038,843; 2,162,783; 4,433,532; 4,110,869; 3,135,080; 3,713,284; 3,493,987; 3,624,699; 3,597,786; 3,846,964; 5,195,311; 3,753,340; 4,106,272; 4,796,322; 4,972,666; 4,487,007; 6,050,072; 4,532,756; 5,018,346; 4,015,406; and, 6,012,273. Such prior art, however, nowhere discloses any system having the combination of simplicity and functionality provided by the subject dischargeable hopper system. There is no onboard storage or receptacle system for a vehicular apparatus heretofore known which provides a combination of structural features that enables a user to so quickly and conveniently collect/store and empty the contents of an onboard storage compartment, and does so as nondisruptively as does the subject dischargeable hopper system for a vehicular apparatus.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a dischargeable hopper system for a vehicular apparatus which enables a user to quickly and conveniently actuate content discharge thereof without deboarding the vehicular apparatus.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a dischargeable hopper system having a collected debris load capacity which is not predicated upon the user""s capacity to physically lift and manipulate such load.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a dischargeable hopper system for a vehicular apparatus which may be re-configured responsive to user actuation so as to effect autonomous content discharge therefrom.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a dischargeable hopper system which in certain embodiments is collapsible in configuration.
These and other objects are attained in the subject dischargeable hopper system for a vehicular apparatus formed in accordance with the present invention.
The dischargeable hopper system comprises in accordance with the present invention a fixed assembly; a movable assembly releasably coupled to the fixed assembly in pivotally displaceable manner; and an actuation assembly coupled to the movable assembly for actuating the displacement thereof relative to the fixed assembly between open and closed positions. The fixed assembly includes a front support portion and pair of opposing wing portions extending transversely therefrom to delineate a portion of a storage compartment. The movable assembly in its closed position encloses against the fixed assembly at least a portion of the storage compartment, and in its open position opens that portion of the storage compartment for autonomous content discharge therefrom.
In one preferred embodiment of the dischargeable hopper system, the movable assembly pivotally engages the wing portions of the fixed assembly to substantially define a fulcrum transversely offset from the front support portion of the fixed assembly. The movable assembly thereby extends between the wing portions of the fixed assembly.
Preferably, the movable assembly is gravitationally biased to its closed position relative to the fixed assembly, and each of the fixed and movable assemblies is collapsible in configuration. The fixed assembly is preferably formed with its wing portions hingedly coupled to the front support portion, and the movable assembly is preferably formed with a frame describing a hoop configuration and a base plate coupled to extend transversely from a lower portion thereof, with a flexible barrier extending between the frame and an outer periphery of the base plate. The frame is formed with a pair of opposing side portions laterally spaced one from the other on which a pair of bearing members are respectively formed to each pivotally engage a wing portion of the fixed assembly.